Space efficient flow controller for dishwasher

ABSTRACT

A flow controller for controlling water flow from a pump pumping water from a sump of a dish washer to a water conduit system of the dishwasher is provided. The flow controller comprises a plate with openings forming water outlets to the water conduit system, and a disc rotatably arranged in relation to the plate. The disc comprises openings arranged for allowing closing and opening of the water outlets in the plate during rotation of the disc. The disc comprises at least two annulus shaped portions. The at least two annulus shaped portions are located radially displaced, and the openings are formed in the at least two annulus shaped portions.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to a flow controller for a dishwasher. The presentinvention also relates to a dishwasher with a flow controller.

BACKGROUND

A dishwasher typically comprises a sump disposed below a wash tub. Thesump is configured to collect water from the dish washer. In thedishwasher a number of nozzles are provided. The nozzles are typicallyprovided on spray arms. Most dishwashers have at least an upper and alower spray arm. The sump is connected to a circulating pump configuredto pump water collected in the sump. The water pumped by the pump can bepumped via some distributing element that determines which nozzles areto spray water at a particular point in time. Thus, by configuring thedistributing element in a particular way the water can be pumped by thecirculating pump to be sprayed via a determined set of spray arms.Accordingly, it is possible to independently perform an intensive washmode of spraying water only through one of the spray arms. Thedistributing element can for example be a motor driven rotating discconfigured to open and close outlets to the different spray arms. Such adistributing element can be termed a flow controller.

For example, U.S. Pat. No. 9,801,522 describes a rotating member drivenby a motor to open and close holes for supplying water to spray nozzles.

There is a constant desire to improve various aspects of a flowcontroller. Hence there is a need for an improved flow controller.

SUMMARY

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved flowcontroller.

This object and/or others are obtained by a device as set out in theappended claims.

In accordance with a first aspect of the invention a flow controller forcontrolling water flow from a pump pumping water from a sump of a dishwasher to a water conduit system of the dishwasher is provided. The flowcontroller comprises a plate with openings forming water outlets to thewater conduit system, and a disc rotatably arranged in relation to theplate. The disc comprises openings arranged for allowing closing andopening of the water outlets in the plate during rotation of the disc.The disc comprises at least two annulus shaped portions. The at leasttwo annulus shaped portions are located radially displaced, and theopenings are formed in the at least two annulus shaped portions. Herebya space efficient configuration of openings in the disc can be obtained.This is because the open and closed portions of the disc that is used toopen and close the water outlets are possible to locate such that a verylimited amount of space is required even for a large number of wateroutlets in the plate. The annulus shaped portions are typically arrangedconcentrically and next to each other to allow for a space efficientconfiguration where the flow controller can be made small.

In accordance with one embodiment, the plate also comprises at least twoannulus shaped portions corresponding two the at least two annulusshaped portions of the disc. By providing a matching structure in theplate, which plate typically can be circular as the rotating disc, theplate can contribute to keep the dimensions of the flow controllersmall. Thus, many water outlets can be opened and closed in a designthat requires little space.

In accordance with one embodiment, the openings in the disc are shapedas annulus sectors and or the water outlets are shaped as annulussectors. Hereby a high water flow can be obtained with a compact design.Thus, the openings providing water to the water conduit system can berelatively large and at the same time require a small amount of space.This is particularly advantageous when many water outlets are providedin the plate because otherwise the plate would need to be very largeindeed.

In accordance with one embodiment, at least water outlet is connectableto a spray arm and wherein at least one water outlet is connectable to awater tank. Hereby a flow controller that is capable of distributingwater to both spray arms, and potentially other water spray nozzles inthe dishwasher and also to provide water to a water tank can beprovided. Because the configuration of the flow controller can be smalland can allow for many water outlets to be provided in the plate, it ispossible to control water supply to other entities of the dishwasher viathe flow controller. Hereby no separate valve for distributing water tofor example a water tank is required.

The invention also extends to a dish washer comprising a flow controlleraccording to the above. The dishwasher can comprise at least one sprayarm and at least one water tank. At least one water outlet in the platecan be connected to the at least one spray arm and at least one wateroutlet in the plate can be connected to the water tank. Hereby noseparate valve for distributing water to the water tank is required.Instead the all water supply can be controlled via the rotating disc inthe flow controller and space and components can be saved within thedishwasher.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described in more detail, by way of example,and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1a is a view of a dishwasher,

FIG. 1b shows a general view of a water conduit system for a dishwasher,

FIG. 2 is a view of a sump,

FIG. 3 is a view of a flow controller,

FIG. 4 is a view of a flow controller with a disc for controlling waterflow removed,

FIGS. 5a and 5b is a view illustrating an installed flow controller,

FIG. 6 is a view illustrating parts of a flow controller in accordancewith an embodiment, and

FIG. 7 is a view illustrating a rotatable disc for opening and closingwater outlets of a flow controller in accordance with an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention will now be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which certain embodiments ofthe invention are shown. The invention may, however, be embodied in manydifferent forms and should not be construed as limited to theembodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided byway of example so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete,and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in theart. For example, like or similar components of different embodimentscan be exchanged between different embodiments. Some components can beomitted from different embodiments. Like numbers refer to like elementsthroughout the description.

FIG. 1a illustrates an example of a dishwasher 10. Such a dishwasher 10typically includes a tub 12 (partly broken away in FIG. 1a to showinternal details), having a plurality of walls (e.g., side wall 13) forforming an enclosure in which dishes, utensils, and other dishware maybe placed for washing. The dishwasher 10 may also include slidable lowerand upper racks (not shown) for holding the dishes, utensils, anddishware. A door 18 may be pivotably engaged with the tub 12 toselectively permit access to the interior of the tub 12. The door 18 maybe configured to close in order to cover and seal the tub 12 when thedishwasher is in operation.

The tub 12 includes a sump 14 in which wash fluid or rinse fluid iscollected, generally referred to as water, typically under the influenceof gravity. The water may be pumped by a circulation pump 50 through awater conduit system 26 to one or more spray arms (e.g., lower spray arm20 and/or middle spray arm 25) mounted in the interior of the tub 12 forspraying the wash fluid, under pressure, onto the dishes, utensils, andother dishware contained therein.

The dishwasher 10 may also comprise a controller 40 that may be incommunication with one or more of the operational components of thedishwasher 10. For example, the controller 40 may be in communicationwith the circulation pump 50 and may be configured to selectivelyoperate the circulation pump 50 to pump wash fluid to at least one sprayarm and/or spray nozzle. In accordance with some embodiments thecontroller 40 can control a flow controller as will be described in moredetail below. In some embodiments, the controller 40 may comprise aprocessor or other computing means such that operations can be performedin the dishwasher. Additionally, or alternatively, the controller 40 maycomprise a memory for storage of data such as routines for operation ofthe dishwasher 10. In some embodiments, the controller 40 may be housedin the lower end 22 of the dishwasher 10.

FIG. 1b shows a general view of a water conduit system 26 for a dishwasher. The water conduit system is provided to spray water into a washtub housed inside the dish washer and configured to wash dishes and thelike placed in the dish washer. A sump 14 is located below the wash tuband configured to collect water used for washing.

In the wash tub, a plurality of spray arms 25 are configured to spraywater received when pumped from the sump 14 via the water distributionsystem 26 onto the dishes. While only one spray arm is depicted in FIG.1b any number of spray arms may be used depending on the configurationof the dish washer. Typically, two or three spray arms are locatedwithin the wash tub. The water distribution system can also be connectedto a water tank 27 for storing hot water that for example can be used ina heat exchange process

The sump 14 is typically positioned at the center of the bottom of thewash tube, and act to collect washing water that is used for washing.FIG. 2 depicts a sump. The sump 14 comprises a flow controller 30configured to receive pressurized water from the circulating pump (notshown). The circulating pump is configured to pump washing watercollected in the sump 14 to circulate the washing water into the washingmachine. The flow controller 30 acts to distribute water to the waterdistribution system in accordance with some programmed setting of thedish washer so that water is released at the desired locations in thedish washer.

In FIG. 3, an exemplary flow controller 30 is shown. The flow controller30 can receive pressurized water at an inlet 31 and pressurized watercan exit the flow controller via a number of water outlets 32. In FIG. 3two water outlets 32 are shown, but any number of water outlets can beprovided. In accordance with some embodiments the water outlets areconnectable to spray arms or other water nozzles. In accordance withsome embodiments at least one of the water outlets 32 is not connectedto a spray arm or a water nozzle. Such a water outlet can be connectableto a water tank for storing hot water. The hot water in the tank can beused in a heat exchanger. The flow controller can have a housing 33having any suitable shape. In accordance with some embodiments thehousing 33 has a generally circular shape and in particular the top part34 of the housing 33 can be made circular. The flow controller can alsocomprise a drain outlet 35 as will be described in more detail below.

The flow controller 30 is controlled to distribute pressurized water tosome desired configuration of water outlets 32 by opening and closingthe different water outlets 32 in some desired configuration. This canbe obtained by rotating a disc with openings in the flow controller. InFIG. 4 a flow controller 30 is shown together with a disc 36 that can bemade to rotate inside the flow controller 30. By rotating the disc 36,openings 37 in the disc 36 can allow for pressurized water to flow tothe water outlets 32. Otherwise, when no opening 37 is placed at aparticular water outlet 32, that particular water outlet 32 is closedand no pressurized water is fed to that particular water outlet 32.

In FIG. 5a , a cross sectional view of the flow controller 30 is shown.The flow controller 30 can be arranged with a sealing 38 to seal theflow controller with pressurized water from the sump 14. This is shownin more detail in conjunction with FIG. 5b . In FIG. 5a the rotatabledisc 36 is seen in position when interacting with a plate 39 in whichplate 39 the water outlets 32 and a drain outlet 35 is formed. To rotatethe disc, a motor (not shown) can be provided. The sealing 38 can bemade circular when the housing 33 and in particular the top part 34 ofthe housing is made circular. The sealing 38 can rest on a flange 40provided on the top part 34 of the housing 33. By sealing the housing 33of the flow controller 30, there is no need to provide sealings for theindividual water outlets 32, whereby the complexity of the flowcontroller can be reduced. Also, it becomes easier to reconfigure theflow controller by adding or altering water outlets in an existingconfiguration of water outlets. This is because only the plate 39 andthe rotating disc 36 needs to be reconfigured.

Further illustrated in FIG. 5a is the water flow inside the flowcontroller 30. In FIG. 5a pressurized water is illustrated using solidarrows. Non-pressurized water is illustrated with dashed arrows. Thus,pressurized water entering the flow controller 30 via the inlet 31 canexit via an open water outlet such as water outlet 32 a in FIG. 5a . Aclosed water outlet, such as water outlet 32 b can returnnon-pressurized water to the sump. This can be performed by providing acavity 41 between the disc 36 and the plate 39. The cavity 41 canprovide a fluid connection between a water outlet 32 b closed by thedisc 36 and a drain outlet 35. Hereby water from the closed outlet 32 bcan return to the sump via the cavity 41 and the drain outlet 35. Thedrain outlet is in fluid connection with the sump. In the example ofFIG. 5a , any water on top of the plate 39 will return to the sump sincethe top side of the plate 39 is in fluid connection with the sump andwater can return by gravity force to the sump which typically is locatedat a low position in the dish washer. Any number of cavities can beformed in this way. The cavities 41 can be formed as channels andarranged to lead water radially from a water outlet 32 to the drainoutlet 35. Hereby water in a water outlet from the flow controller 30not provided with pressurized water can return to the sump and not stayin a water conduit not currently being supplied with pressurized water.This in turn can obtain a lower water consumption in the dish washersince no water is left in an unused water conduit. The cavity 41 can beformed in the disc 36. In accordance with some embodiments the cavity 41is formed in the plate 39. In yet another embodiment the cavity isformed both in the disc 36 and in the plate 39.

In FIG. 5b , the flow controller 30 is shown when installed togetherwith the sump 14. The flow controller is installed in the sump 14 andthe housing 33 of the flow controller 30 is fitted against the sump 14.In particular the housing 33 of the flow controller 30 can be fittedinto the sump such that a part of the sump 14 will completelycircumscribe the housing 33. In other words, there can be a wall of thesump 14 all around the housing 33 of the flow controller where thesealing 38 is arranged. Further, the sealing 38 that can be arrangedbetween the housing 33 and the sump 14 will prevent any water exitingthe flow controller 30 to enter a dry space of the dishwasher generallymarked with reference 50 in FIG. 5b . Thus, all water exiting the flowcontroller 30 will end up in the sump 14 because the sealing 38 preventswater from leaking to the space 50 when the flow controller 30 is fittedagainst the sump with the sealing 38 arranged between the housing 33 andthe sump 14. The sealing 38 can therefore prevent water on the topsideof the flow controller to enter the space 50 and any water in the topside of the flow controller will return to the sump 14.

In FIG. 6 another embodiment of a flow controller 30 is depicted. InFIG. 6 only the plate 39 and the disc 36 are shown. The other parts ofthe flow controller 30 can for example be similar to the embodimentdescribed in conjunction with FIG. 5. In the embodiment of FIG. 6 Thedisc 36 can, for example, be made to rotate by means of a motor drivenarm 44 that co-operates with a protruding part 47 of the disc 36 torotate the disc with respect to the plate. 39. The plate 39 can inaccordance with some embodiments be circular and have essentially thesame size as the disc 36. By opening and closing the different wateroutlets 32 by rotating the disc 36, water can be supplied to any desiredcombination of water outlets. The disc 36 and the plate 39 can compriseannular portions to allow for an efficient use of space when opening andclosing the water outlets. In FIG. 6 the plate 39 has three annularportions. A first portion where the drain outlet is located and twoouter annular portions 48, 49 where the water outlets are located. Theannular portions 48, 49 of the plate 39 can correspond to annularportions of the disc, see below in conjunction with FIG. 7. The openingsforming the water outlets 32 can be shaped as annulus sectors.

In FIG. 7 the disc 36 is shown in more detail. The disc 36 is providedwith openings 37. The openings 37 can be provided on an annulus shapedportion 45. The openings can advantageously be shaped as annulus sectorsin the disc 36. In accordance with some embodiments multiple, at leasttwo annulus shaped portions 45, 46, are provided. The at least twoannulus shaped portions 45, 46 are typically located radially displaced.The at least two annulus shaped portions thereby form ring shapedportions located next to each other. The openings 37 are formed in theat least two annulus shaped portions. In accordance with one embodimentthe openings 37 are shaped as annulus sectors.

In the embodiment depicted in FIGS. 6 and 7 there are six differentoutlets, which are placed at three different radii of the flowcontroller 30. The drain outlet 35 is closest to the center or at thecenter at a first, inner, radius, and can be in fluid communication withthe five water outlets 32 when these are closed.

The water outlets to a middle and to a top spray-arm can be placed at asecond, intermediate, radius. The water outlets to the spray arm arepreferably larger than the other water outlets to allow for a high waterflow. Hence these outlets on the second radius can be large compared tothe other water outlets. The water outlet to a bottom spray-arm and toother water outlets can be located at a third outmost radius. The wateroutlets on the largest radius can be smaller than the water outlets onthe intermediate radius.

In accordance with some embodiments the flow controller 30 can beconfigured such that the water outlets 32 at the largest radius isprovided with a water outlet that is half the angular width of the wateroutlets at a radius inside the largest radius, such as the intermediateradius in the example above.

In the exemplary embodiment of FIGS. 6 and 7, the outer smaller outletcan go from open to closed in 30 deg=12 on/off per full turn. The twoopenings at the intermediate radius can go from open to closed in 60deg=6 on/off full turn. In an exemplary embodiment with a 1/12 sectionbetween the two larger openings there are 8 positions were the openingsare fully opened or closed and the smaller outlets can have differentcombinations of openings together with the 8 positions of the two largeroutlets.

1. A flow controller for controlling water flow from a pump pumpingwater from a sump of a dish washer to a water conduit system of thedishwasher, the flow controller comprising: a plate with openingsforming water outlets to the water conduit system, and a disc rotatablyarranged in relation to the plate, the disc comprising openings arrangedfor allowing closing and opening of the water outlets in the plateduring rotation of the disc; wherein the disc comprises at least twoannulus shaped portions, the at least two annulus shaped portions beinglocated radially displaced, and wherein the openings are formed in saidat least two annulus shaped portions.
 2. The flow controller accordingto claim 1, wherein the plate also comprises at least two annulus shapedportions corresponding to the at least two annulus shaped portions ofthe disc.
 3. The flow controller according to claim 1, wherein theopenings in the disc are shaped as annulus sectors.
 4. The flowcontroller according to claim 1, wherein the water outlets are shaped asannulus sectors.
 5. The flow controller according to claim 1, wherein atleast one water outlet is configured to be connected to a spray arm andwherein at least one water outlet is configured to be connected to awater tank.
 6. A dishwasher comprising the flow controller according toclaim
 1. 7. The dishwasher according to claim 6, the dishwashercomprising at least one spray arm and at least one water tank, whereinat least one water outlet in the plate is connected to said at least onespray arm and wherein at least one water outlet in the plate isconnected to said water tank.